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He was a shepherd until he was eighteen, and then a ship carpenter's apprentice for four years; worked at his trade in Boston for a year, at this time learning to read and write; and with his wife's property established a ship-yard on the Sheepscot river in Maine, but soon abandoned it because of Native American disorders. In 1684-1686, with a commission from the British Crown, he searched vainly for a wrecked Spanish treasure ship of which he had heard while on a voyage to the Bahamas; he found this vessel in 1687, and from it recovered £300,000.

Of this amount much went to the duke of Albemarle, who had fitted out the second expedition. Phips received £16,000 as his share, was knighted by James II, and was appointed sheriff of New England under Sir Edmund Andros. Poorly educated and ignorant of law, Phips could accomplish little, and returned to England. In 1689 he returned to Massachusetts, found a revolutionary government in control, and at once entered into the life of the colony.

He joined the North Church ( Cotton MatherThis article is about the minister Cotton Mather. For the Pop band, see Cotton Mather (band). Cotton Mather ( February 12, 1663 February 13, 1728). 1678 ( Harvard College), M. 1681; honorary doctorate 1710 ( University of Glasgow), was a socially and poli's) at Boston, and was soon appointed by the General Court commander of an expedition against the French in CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe, which sailed in April 1690 and easily captured Port RoyalThis article is about the community of Port Royal, an early French colony in eastern Canada. For information on the South Carolina town see: Port Royal, South Carolina. For information on the former Jamaican capital see: Port Royal. For information on the. A much larger expedition led by Phips in July against QuebecQuebec ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National Motto: Je me souviens (I remember CapitalLargest city Quebec City Montreal Area Total % fresh water 2nd largest(1st lgst prov. 1 542 056 km² 11,5% Population Total (2004) Density Ranked 2nd 7 509 928 5,43/km² Admi and MontrealMontreal (/mVn. tri"Al/ in English, /mO~. re"al/ in French) is the largest city in the province of Quebec, Canada, where it also constitutes an administrative region. It is Canada's second most populous city after Toronto ( Statistics Canada), and the sec ended disastrously. Phips generously bought at their par value, in order to give them credit in the colony, many of the colony's bills issued to pay for the expedition.

In the winter of 1690Events Giovanni Domenico Cassini observes differential rotation within Jupiter's atmosphere. January 6 Joseph, son of Emperor Leopold I becomes King of the Romans January 14 The clarinet is invented in Nuremberg, Germany May 20 England passes Act of Grace he returned to England, vainly sought aid for another expedition against Canada, and urged, with Increase MatherIncrease Mather ( June 12, 1639 August 23, 1723) was an American Puritan clergyman. He was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Richard Mather. Upon his return, he became pastor of North Church, Boston, which he remained as for the rest, the colonial agent, a restoration of the colony's charter, annulled during the reign of Charles IICharles II ( 29 May 1630 6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 30 January 1649 de jure or 29 May 1660 de facto until his death. Charles II's father, Charles I, had been executed in 1649 following the English Civil War; the mo. The Crown, at the suggestion of Mather, appointed him the first royal governor under the new charter.

On reaching Boston in May 1692, Phips found the colony in a very disordered condition, and though honest, persevering and indisposed to exalt his prerogative at the expense of the people, he was unfitted for the difficult position. He appointed a special commission to try the witchcraft cases, but did nothing to stop the witchcraft mania, and suspended the sittings of the court only after great atrocities had been committed.

In defending the frontier he displayed great energy, but his policy of building forts was expensive and therefore unpopular. Having the manners of a 17th-century sea captain, he became involved in many quarrels, and engaged in a bitter controversy with Governor Benjamin Fletcher of New York. Numerous complaints to the home government resulted in his being summoned to England to answer charges. While in London awaiting trial, he died on the 18th of February 1695.

See Cotton Mather's Life of His Excellency Sir William Phips (London, 1697; republished in his Magnolia in 1702); Francis Bowen's "Life of Sir William Phips," in Jared Sparks's American Biography, 1st series, vol. vii. (New York, 1856); William Goold's "Sir William Phips," in Collections of the Maine Historical Society, series I, vol. ix. (Portland, 1887); Ernest Myrand's Sir William Phipps--devant Quebec (Quebec, 1893); Thomas Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts (2 vols, Boston; 3rd ed., 1795); and JG Palfrey's History of New England (5 vols., Boston, 1858-1890).

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911 Britannica